Load bearing members such as booms, sticks, crane booms and so forth typically must support loads which may produce a resultant load acting transversely across the member. Improvements in manufacturing processes such as the welding process allow for an improvement in the ability of the member to withstand such loads. It has been shown that fatigue strength, particularly at weld locations, is the limiting design factor when designing these types of structures. It is generally accepted that welding induces high tensile residual stresses in the local weldment region resulting in the presence on a microscopic level of small sharp discontinuities along the weld toe. These discontinuities, in turn, act as crack propagators, especially when the load bearing member is subjected to cyclic loading conditions. These improvements in the manufacturing processes, in turn, allow for use of thinner materials in creating these members resulting in possibly increased payloads and improved cycle times due to the decrease in weight of such structures.